Labor Day at the Ranch

Christa's uncle Doyle and his wife Sheryl

Our latest family picture!

Grandma and Greerson

We spent the Labor Day weekend at the ranch with Christa's uncle Doyle and his wife Sheryl. Several of Christa's relatives dropped in on Saturday and we had a great lunch together. That night we played Mexican Train. Sheryl was still upset that she lost the game at Christmas so we had a rematch. She didn't do much better!

Inner Space Cavern

We travelled to Georgetown to the Inner Space Cavern for Greerson's tenth birthday. It was really kind of cool (70 degrees). The cave was discovered in the 1960s when they were building a bridge on I-35. They were drilling core samples and kept losing bits, so they made a wider hole and dropped a man down into some old bat guana. They had to create a man made opening to the cave since it had closed over several years before. We rode a train down to the entrance and walked through the cave. It was a lot of fun. They even had a concrete retaining wall in the middle of the cave that had cave paintings on it (similar to the paintings in France). It was a very worthwhile trip, especially since Greerson got a mood ring! We had promised him that he could go to the cave since he missed the school field trip to the cave last year, because he was sick.


Who needs France, Texas has cave paintings too!!!!

Greerson and Tyler stand in awe as a bat flies around our heads
This is the rippled ceiling of the cave

Galveston

Greerson enjoyed the beach
Bright lights by the Tremont Hotel

Sand Castles on the beach

Tuna Does Vegas. . . .Coming to your city soon!

We made a quick trip to Galveston over the weekend. Our first stop was at the Katy Mills Mall where we checked out the Bass Pro Shop then drove on to Texas City. We stayed there since Hotels on the island are at a premium. Sunday we spent at the beach. Galveston Island State Park was a new experience for us. Greerson had a blast playing in the surf. The weather was very pleasant, cloudy and 89. Christa laughed that we went to the gulf and ate at the Saltgrass Steak House and Fuddruckers. Sunday evening we went to the 1895 Grand Opera House to see Joe Sears and Jaston Williams in Tuna Does Vegas. It was great! The ride home afterwards was a challenge (we got home about 1:30am).

Christa's Grandmothers Birthday

Woody, Grandma Pat, Bill and Tommy

Caroline playing pool!
Christa and Bill help Grandma Pat cut the cake, Caroline wants a piece!
Jerry Morris and Grandma Pat (Jerry always drives a red Cadillac)

We celebrated Grandma Pat's 90th Birthday today. Over sixty people attended the surprise party. It was good to see all of our relatives. Grandma Pat's friend Jerry Morris came with her nephew. She is known for driving a red Cadillac. She is quite the character and always livens up a party. It was so good to see her again.

Texas Rangers Game

Greerson and his friend Chas enjoy the game!
The scoreboard was almost directly across from our seats on the upper deck
This is the view from the car for almost 30 minutes as we waited to leave.

Greerson thought this guitar train was cool at the Gaylord Texan

We travelled to Dallas to pick Christa up at the airport and hung out at the Bass Pro Shop and the Gaylord Texan Resort until game time. The game was fun! We met some friends there and enjoyed the game even though the Rangers lost. The worst part of the entire experience was having to wait almost an hour to get out of the parking lot. We finally made it to Steak and Shake for a snack before the long ride home. We got home around 1am. There were two accidents on I-30 one in each direction that slowed everything down. Fortunately we made it home safely.

Aliens and the White Sands

Greerson and Christa climbing the sand dunes
Greerson and Daryl on the Dunes

Christa works on Space Lab
We found the flying saucer from the incident in Roswell (a test capsule)

This is the missile museum
Christa and Greerson watch the Space Shuttle land

Greerson at the UFO Museum in Roswell

Greerson really wanted to go to the Alien museum in Roswell, so we went. It was an interesting assortment of alien material, but when we were done we asked Greerson if he thought it was worth the $18 admission cost. He replied, no, maybe one cent. After we toured the museum we headed to Ruidoso for the weekend. We ate at a really great steak house called the Cattle Barron. They had a fabulous salad bar. We also surveyed the flood damage at Ruidoso Downs and the surrounding area along the river. We spent the day Saturday in Alamogordo at the International Rocket Museum (or something like that). Basically it outlined the development of rockets and the space program. It was really interesting and we enjoyed ourselves immensly. Greerson got a freeze dried ice cream sandwich like the astronauts would eat. It was interesting, but really wouldn't coax any of us to join the space program. Later that evening we travelled out to Truett and Betty's cabin and visited with Daryl's uncle Bob and aunt Jerry. They are staying at the cabin until Tuesday. We found out that Uncle Bob has a criminal past! He told us a story about a traffic accident he had in Spain and got mixed up with the police and had to go to court. He didnt have an attorney, he told another missionary who was taking him to court that Jesus was his attorney. When they got to the court the King of Spain (a dictator) had died the day before and the new King had pardoned everyone with an offense similar to Uncle Bobs. This was something, he said he was probably the only missionary pardoned by the King of Spain (and probably the only one that ever needed it). We also went to the White Sands since Christa wasnt with us last year when we went. We had fun and only carried a little away in our shoes. The leather seat in the car where Greerson was sitting turned white (it is normally tan) He had been rolling down the dunes and apparently the sand had collected in his pockets! Needless to say we had a great time.

Uncle Truett's Funeral

Today we gathered to celebrate the life of my uncle Truett. We met at the First Baptist Church of Roswell and enjoyed a wonderful lunch together as a family before the service. It was so good to see so many cousins that we havn't seen in many years. It was said that we wont see a family reunion like this again until we get to heaven. After the meal we went to the celebration service. Daryl's cousin John (Johnny, to all of his cousins) sang We Shall Behold Him to open the service. Many of the relatives including his mother were shocked to hear his beautiful singing voice. He hasn't performed in almost ten years and none of us had ever heard him sing. Truett's children put the whole service together and played two videos which were so moving. Daryl's cousin Marilyn said "it was like reliving my childhood". They had so many pictures of Truett and the rest of the family. It was very moving to see Daryl's mother and grandmother and uncle Rogene who have all gone on to be with Jesus. Reviewing Truett's life reviewed all of our lives in many ways, because we were all a part of it. Truett holds a special place in the heart of our family. Daryl always held a great admiration for him. His Dad was gifted in many ways like Truett when it came to figuring out a way to accomplish a task (such as building a part for something to fix it),but the key difference was that Truett was really interested in unique projects that were always on a grand scale. Like a cabin that was round and had walls that shot up at an angle. The new house (built in the late 70s and early 80s) was amazing. It had a doorbell that played music! It also was part round and had a very low profile reminiscent of a Frank Lloyd Wright design. The best thing about this house was the huge wind charger that towered over the house. This was not something new to Daryl since he had seen the wind charger at the cabin, but the sheer magnitude of the tower that supported that wind charger was absolutely amazing. In Daryl's young mind it would have been a great thing to climb and survey the territory. It was so tall that it might have posed a danger to aircraft!

Lottie and Willie Worley raised a family of boys that believed they could do anything. This was particularly evident in Truett and in Daryl's Dad, Ladson. It was always so reassuring to go see what new project the Truett Worleys had in the works. Daryl helped to paint their new house when he was in High School. It was kind of Tom Sawyer like, because Betty convinced him it was so much fun that he couldnt get enough. How many times do you get to paint a house with paint mixed in a huge outdoor trash can?

Most recently Truett has been the rock that Daryl and his siblings have turned to for advice concerning their Dad's situation. He will sorely be missed, but one funny consolation is the thought of Truett Worley dancing on the streets of gold. He was so straight laced and by the book (the Bible) that you just dont picture him dancing.

Truett set a great example for all of us and hopefully we all will have the great things said of us when we pass over to the other side.

Daryl's Aunt Freda and her Husband Ronald

Daryl's Dad and his oldest brother A.T.